Not the right judgement call by Matthews on that play, however he is a steller player, and is in no way a dirty player. At most he got caught up in the moment, its not like he tried to stomp Kaep or anything. It’s a rough sport, and I think people forget about that sometimes.

Clay Matthews is fined $15K for a blatant, premeditated horse-collar take down 3 yards out of bounds. Ahmad Brooks is fined $12K for a roughing the passer penalty. One occurred within the white lines and one did not. How is there only a $3K difference?

WE HAVE THE BEST QB IN THE LEAGUE!! whether you like or not..how do u want to get beat? He can play the pistol,read option or with the passing game!

Carl Gerbschmidt says:Sep 13, 2013 3:13 PM

This is OUTRAGEOUS. The NFL is clearly broken and needs to fix itself. Kapaernick was INBOUNDS when Clay committed to the tackle. What’s he supposed to do? Stop his body in mid-air? RIDICULOUS!!!

skittlesareyum says:Sep 13, 2013 3:14 PM

I predict this thread will be filled with outrage about the hit, as if late hits never happened before. Meanwhile, any other thread about rules changes for safety will be filled with comments like “just give them flags” and “Deacon Jones would be rolling over in his grave”.

It’s amazing how we have it both ways.

bennyb82 says:Sep 13, 2013 3:14 PM

I do not think Mathews takes steroids, but he might be infected with rabies…

I don’t think he’s a dirty player. I think he was frustrated by not being able to get a clean hit for a game and a half on Kaep and lost his mind there for a second.

As for the size of the fine, I don’t hink it should have been like Suh because there is no history, but he TACKLED a guy 6 yards out of bounds. All he had to do was let go. He LAUNCHED himself 2 feed from the out of bounds line. In what world would he EVER need to launch form 2 feet away form the out of bounds line.

jonevans83 says:Sep 13, 2013 3:17 PM

Think people are blind. The guy hit him late… but not as late as people claim. He left his feet when the qb was just off the field of play. It’s not like he can put the brakes on in mid air. fine is prob about right.

kriswd40 says:Sep 13, 2013 3:17 PM

With one high profile dirty player incident under his belt, people will quickly start taking notice of subsequent dirty plays. Welcome to Suh Country!

That’s Matthews problem. Your are not allowed to hit a player late on account of you launching late. You can only launch yourself such that you make your contact before the player goes out of bounds and it’s your responsibility as the tackler to adhere to that. Clay had no chance to connect with him inbounds with the late timing of his launch, and that’s a dirty, nasty penalty, and he should be suspended for it and hit with a massive fine.

wikipediasaidso says:Sep 13, 2013 3:21 PM

bigbrad184 | Sep 13, 2013, 2:11 PM CDT
Clay Matthews is fined $15K for a blatant, premeditated horse-collar take down 3 yards out of bounds. Ahmad Brooks is fined $12K for a roughing the passer penalty. One occurred within the white lines and one did not. How is there only a $3K difference?
========

This is getting ridiculous. And I don’t even care about either team involved in this soap opera.

It wasn’t anywhere close to the definition of a horse collar. And it wasn’t any more blatant than any number of “hit the guy on his way out of bounds” calls that are made every week that end up getting fines.

Can’t wait until Sunday so there’s a new batch of personal fouls, etc. to talk about. This one is getting WAY too much attention.

This guy is fined 15K while Dashon Goldson is fined 30K for a truly legal hit. NFL is gonna recoup their losses on this concussion lawsuit pretty fast at the rate they going and ruin the sport even quicker.

For everyone who thinks this was the dirtiest play they have ever seen, 9er and queen fans, go watch it again. Kaep is still in bounds when clay leaves his feet and he tackles him around the shoulders not neck or horse coller…your jealousy stinks. It’s not our fault that your team was pathetic for a long long time, which is why your team is so stacked now (9ers) lots of early draft picks on that team, it will catch up with you when kaep wants his 20+ mil a year ya can’t keep everybody…good luck, we lost by 6 to you on your home field giving up 400+ passing yards, when we should have won. You’re only kidding yourself if you think you’re far and away the best team in the nfl

He’s fined 15,000 and D Hall fined 20,000??!! Guess cause he plays for the Redskins!! I understand he has a history people so don’t start with that.. Just found it interesting because his hit was on a QB.. Thought that alone would warrant a bigger fine!!

shibbyleigh says:Sep 13, 2013 3:29 PM

Can we all take a second look at the picture and notice that Clay is making contact while the first foot Kaepernick stepped out bounds with (his left foot) is still on the ground? Jesus, it was a flag worthy play and a dumb one at that, but some of you people act like he disemboweled him and ate Staley’s face afterwards.

I’m not a fan of either team, but was watching the game because, well there was only one other game on at 4pm last weekend. Anyways what i am wondering is why wasnt Bolden fined for his hit on the Packers DB that was out of bounds and well behind the play. Then he stood over the guy and was running his mouth. Cant have it both ways 49ers..

Call me crazy but I think if harbaugh hadn’t made such a stink about players being able to hit a read option quarterback the late hit might never have happened. He’s basically taunting defensive players by making such a fuss over it. If you want your qb to run out of the pocket he’s gonna get leveled if you try to tell people he can’t be hit they are gonna hit him harder.

$15K? No check, straight cash homie! Whatever. Somebody needs to hit Colleen in the mouth, dude is WAAAAY too smug. He went all Hollywood this offseason. Can’t wait for Petey in Seadderall to order the Code Red on Colleen Sunday.

deltaoracle says:Sep 13, 2013 3:32 PM

I’d say he got off fairly easy. No, he couldn’t have stopped his momentum, but he could have lowered his right arm or pulled it in a bit. In any case, it’s old news and he’ll need to play with just as much fire this week; has another tough LT across from him.

If you say he was inbounds your are stupid! If you say the hit was legal then the Jets should be 1-1. Davids hit was late (though far closer than dumb dumb Matthews) and Matthews delivered a cheap shop, period, point, blank!

Wow as dirty as that hit was IMO he should have been fined a lot more.

I guess there is going to be no second fine for throwing punches to the head of the lineman?

Frank Alexander was fined 15k just for throwing a punch. Yet if you are a packer you can cheap shot them, hit the head area of the OUT OF BOUNDS QB than go on to hit the lineman in the head for the same amount. Add that to his little BS taunting and it proves one thing.

It proves that the league has separate rules and fines for their little favorite golden boys and their teams.

Never mind that Boldin was fined for a late hit in the same game, and he also hit Sam Shields in the head during the fight.

And smh at the people that can’t understand why a roughing the passer penalty is almost the same as a late hit on a runner. A QB throwing the ball is vulnerable and can’t protect himself like someone running can.

kingmj4891 says:Sep 13, 2013 3:36 PM

No Matthews first time being fined. Weak.

NFL

National Fixed League.

Carl Gerbschmidt says:Sep 13, 2013 3:36 PM

Rick Spielman is a Magician says:Sep 13, 2013 3:21 PM

I think we all have to cut Clay a little slack. After all, it has to be frustrating to lose to the same team three times in a year.
—–

How frustrating is it to watch your vikes waste AD’s career? Besides, shouldn’t you be out scouting who the Vike’s are going to take at QB in teh draft?

28for20 says:
Sep 13, 2013 3:16 PM
Too light! The guy stated that they needed to punish the QB and followed through with his actions. Illegally! B.S.!

————————

Too light? This is football, you are supposed to take the QB down!!! that’s his job and the point of the D line… Just because he talked a little smack about what he is payed to do, doesn’t mean he should take extra criticism. Last year Niner fans made fun of GB saying they cant get Kaep when he is mobile (and rightfully so, because that is how the game went)… so don’t expect Green Bay to let him do it again… That was the point of Matthews message. Basically… get over the hit, because it’s friggen football, I didnt know people would get so upset about being hit, he did not try to intentionally injure him.

rpiotr01 says:Sep 13, 2013 3:39 PM

Brooks fined ~$13,000 for roughing the passer on Rodgers; Boldin fined ~$7,000 for late hit on Jarrett Bush.

ladys throwing themselves at Kaep after the game is one thing, but during the game thats taking it to far. Now I’ve seen everything.

kaeptovernon says:Sep 13, 2013 3:43 PM

dkeyser says:
Sep 13, 2013 3:31 PM
:I’m not a fan of either team, but was watching the game because, well there was only one other game on at 4pm last weekend. Anyways what i am wondering is why wasnt Bolden fined for his hit on the Packers DB that was out of bounds and well behind the play. Then he stood over the guy and was running his mouth. Cant have it both ways 49ers..”

Boldin was fined genius. Do some homework before you make a fool of yourself.

I think we all have to cut Clay a little slack. After all, it has to be frustrating to lose to the same team three times in a year.

Not twice, but three times.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

the vikes have no Championships, they are 0 – 4 in Super Bowls

losing not one, not two, not three, but all four

artvan15 says:Sep 13, 2013 3:51 PM

I hope the next time he launches himself like that he takes out Harbaugh!!!!

goldrush36 says:Sep 13, 2013 3:52 PM

Okay case closed now. I won’t complain about fairness of fines. I think it was a bad judgement call period. Yes he talked all week about hitting Kap but I believe it was purely psychological. What happened on the field was a result of the psych out not working and Kap getting the D frustrated. Not a premeditated kill shot. Just my opinion from what I saw. Moving on now please. Good luck to the pack. See you in January

citynative says:Sep 13, 2013 3:53 PM

Ironic that after all the reaction to the fine, Harbaugh, and Kaepernick’s quote about intimidation that Packers fans have the nerve to call another fanbase whiners.

15K…..Matthews sent a loud message to CK, act like a runner, get taken down like a runner. CK pretty much remained in the pocket from that point on. I give CK maybe 4 more games before he’s out for the season.

Cheap shot; and not totally unexpected given his pre-game comments. They are obviously getting frustrated at their inability to beat the 49ers. Three straight losses would be hard for any team to take….

Kaepernick is not remotely close to the best QB in the league. Probably not even top eight. The hyperbole of some Niner fans is legendary, but then again, the last title was won in the Bay Area 20 seasons ago.

The borrowed rage of Vikings fans is laughable…when your team sucks as bad as Minnesota does, you have to resort to hoping the team that regularly beats you gets punished by having its best players ejected, suspended, fined, whatever. Draft a quarterback or stay home.

Matthews left his feet about 1/2 a second too late. The fine was probably justified but wouldn’t have happened if Harbaugh hadn’t spent last week crying about how he was worried about what Matthews would do to his quarterback.

49er fans should prepare themselves for another meeting with the packers this season, and hope that it is at home. They didn’t stomp anybody last week. No excuses as a loss is a loss but a healthy Burnett and Hayward in that game likely would have made a difference.

Grumpy Guy says:Sep 13, 2013 4:16 PM

I think the fine was just right. He is not a total douche like Suh, but he did lose his composure and he hurt his team. I doubt his dad, uncle or former 49er grandfather would have told him any different. Hopefully, he learns from this and it never happens again. The Packers are lucky to have an “awesome” player… now he needs to be an awesome leader, too, and set an example.

kentakka says:Sep 13, 2013 4:17 PM

I don’t see a reason for the $15k fine on Matthews if it’s over tackling the QB. He left his feet as he was stepping out of bounds. Nothing he could have done to avoid hitting the QB.

Now if the 15k was for Matthews throwing the punch at Staley, then that’s understandable.

I’m a diehard Packers fan and a diehard Matthews fan, but that QB hit has no reason to be fined for. Maybe what looks like a punch to Staley but not the tackle on the QB.

granadafan says:Sep 13, 2013 4:18 PM

I like the Packers, but the faux outrage by the deluded fans is amazing. If ever there was a clear cut case of a player deserving a penalty and a big finef for a late and dangerous hit out of bounds, it was Clay’s clothesline of Kaep.

If this had happened to Rodgers, every single one of you would be screaming bloody murder and not coming up with these very flimsy excuses that he was “in bounds”.

Niner fan here, and I still like Clay Matthews. He was playing hard and made a mistake. He got the penalty, got the fine, and apologized. What more can he do at this point? I can only hope the Niners are play just as hard as Matthews this week against the Seahawks.

wow, $15k for a little hit out of bounds? if Matthews really wanted to hurt the kid, he would & could have, but instead, gently brought him down to the turf.

if Matthews doesn’t leap at him, who knows, the tatted up freak may have reached the ball out for a first down.

9ers are soft! their coach is a demented windbag and their fans cry like a baby that just lost his balloon.

PACKERS!!!!”

————————————————–

This is too good. Is this a new PFT comment section bit like logicalvoice? You’re a Packers fan calling 49ers soft? Hahahahahahaha. 49ers have your team’s number. Harbaugh is just a better coach than McCarthy

@Carl Gerbschmidt says:
Sep 13, 2013 3:13 PM
This is OUTRAGEOUS. The NFL is clearly broken and needs to fix itself. Kapaernick was INBOUNDS when Clay committed to the tackle. What’s he supposed to do? Stop his body in mid-air? RIDICULOUS!!!
——-
This carl guy is either stupid or blind. I think both.
It’s evident for anyone to see that Kaep was out of bound. The penalty was called and Matthews himself admitted the mistake. Yet stup1d people abound.

I don’t know if Matthews is dirty but that one play was dirty. He premeditated it and he was not able to Kaep almost the entire game. So went for it even if it was dirty.

happytwinsfan says:Sep 13, 2013 4:33 PM

matthews contract is for 66 million for 5 years if he plays all 16 regular season game, and is on the fields for say 50 snaps a game, that works out to $825,000 / game and $16,500 per snap, so he still cleared $1,500.00, (significantly more than my weekly salary – sob) on the play.

Again..why are the Viking” fans” chiming in? For a team that hasn’t done squat you sure talk a lot. I suppose in 0 years when Clay is suffering from concussions and he decides to seek ” revenge” on the Pack by inning with the ‘Queens,you all will be on here defending him like he s the 2 nd coming of Favre

brettfavresmidget says:Sep 13, 2013 4:37 PM

Fathead, lighter wallet.

greenbaypackersowner says:Sep 13, 2013 4:37 PM

If I wasn’t an owner of the team I’d show the Claymaker my support by helping him pay the fine. But I know the NFL forbids the team from paying fines for players.

The fine on Mathews was right, but I don’t think Clay expected Kap to step out of bounds when he launched.
I doubt that any Packer or fan will forget last year with Kap fighting for every yard he could get when he had the ball and he did it very well. Gotta give him that. I just think he’s learning to take a little better care of himself now. As far a the horse collar talk, apparently a lot of people don’t understand what a horse collar tackle is. Same thing for those calling the tackle a clothesline.

While I think the play was close enough that Matthews might have been forgiven for hitting Kaepernick I think it’s the fact that he left his feet and then purposefully grabbed Kaepernick’s jersey on the day down to slam the QB to the ground showed his true intent. Players knock other players out of bounds all the time but on runs like that they usually do it with a bump or push not a WWE flying suplex.

Where did most of you learn to measure? Kap was only about three feet or one yard out of bounds when Matthews lunged and hit him. if it was five or six yards like harbaugh claims he would have been outside of the out of bounds line. Watch the replay a few times Kap made a move up the sideline and stepped out in fear of being destroyed by Matthews. If anything Kap should be fined for being such a wuss.

purpleguy says:Sep 13, 2013 5:09 PM

Rumor has it the NFL let up on the fine because they felt bad for CMIII after watching him attempt to slap Staley like a 13 year old girl.

I suggest you watch tape from Kaepernick’s games so far. He very rarely is touched when he runs. I’ve watched every game he’s played in and I’ve only seen him run into a tackler head on to fight for yards once or twice in 11 games. He is the master of going out of bounds or sliding before contact.

wininer says:Sep 13, 2013 5:16 PM

It was CLEARLY premeditated as witnessed by his comments the week leading up to the game. Not only should he have been fined for the obvious late hit (Mathews didn’t need to continue to wrap up and he did) but he should have been flagged for the obvious taunt right in Kaps face on the sack a bit later.

Least in this case the league showed no favoriteism as any player throwing punches, and Clay threw 2, is ejected and he wasn’t. Lucky to only be fined the way I see it.

Everyone posting that this was a dirty hit is an idiot. Those who think Kaep was more than a yard out of bounds are idiots as well. I was working the sidelines this game and was no more than 5 yds from this play. Clay was airborne right as Kaep was out of bounds. Should clay have hit him? no. Was it wrong? Yes. However, in the heat if battle you do not give up on an enemy until you know he’s defeated. Everyone who feels clay deserves more are just hating on clay because he’s an “awesome player.” Look at the game from a neutral perspective and that may change your opinion it for those being ignorant…95% of you…people hate your posts because you make idiotic, uneducated, immature remarks that show your true idiotic minds only care about your perspective and not the actual perspective. Idiots.

Those dirty 49ers… Over 20k in fines for the game. And those fans have the audacity to whine about one quetionable hit. 49ers are a dirty dirty team… bothe Brooks and Boldin need to be suspended. I guess Harbaugh last lost control of his defense, more worried about refs and others player instead of his own.
49ers fans… comments above sound familiar???
Insert foot in mouth and getting ready to be beat again by 30 up in the link.

I am huge Niners fan and I disagree with the fine. It was a tackle. It was not malicious. I equate it to a pitcher throwing at a batter. It is part of the game. If he had thrown a punch or went helmet to helmet, then I can see the fine. There should be no fine is this case.

ts freekin football. People hit people. There doing this to send a message that yes a QB is a runner but if you tackle him to hard we will come down on you because the qb is important.

Rather they should have strongly came out and said, hey if you want to be that running guy, expect to get your bell rung at your own risk.
Again, the NFL is worried that if there isn’t enough scoring by the offense people get bored.

That was pretty tame as late hits go, no impact. He isn’t a dirty player, I don’t remember any other personal fouls against him at all since he entered the league, maybe there has been a face mask penalty or two. It is just Harbaugh and the sissy 49er’s fans blowing it out of proportion. He is always working the officials to try and gain an edge. The penalty was deserved but the dirty player accusations are not. Grow up.

sugarray1 says:Sep 13, 2013 7:18 PM

Anyone posting here that Matthews’ hit was not late needs refresher course in the fundamentals of football. Textbook late, and against the opposing QB will get fined every time. Doesn’t matter who s hitting or being hit. It wasn’t even close folks……

Just so ya know….Coach Harbaugh and the rest of the Niners are looking forward to playing the remainder of the season against all your lame teams. Kaep is just getting started. That IS kind of scary! (for the rest of you)

Matthews wanted that hit so bad after he was embarrassed in the playoff he saw that may be his best chance to get a good hit on him. He’s a beast of a player but you can tell visions of Kaepernick still haunt his nightmares.

bfrsd says:Sep 13, 2013 7:31 PM

marvin49 says: Sep 13, 2013 3:17 PM

Well…I think it should have been a bigger fine…but…

I don’t think he’s a dirty player. I think he was frustrated by not being able to get a clean hit for a game and a half on Kaep and lost his mind there for a second.
————————————-
Haha. This is funny. How about you do us all a favor and go back and check out how many sacks and tackles for loss Clay has against the 49ers the last three games. Outside of the rest of the defense playing horrible, Clay has destroyed Staley for multiple sacks and QB pressures.

This is BS. Saw that game, and Matthews left his feet while Gonzo was still in bounds and looking to straddle the line as far as he could get. He didn’t try to hurt him; just make a nice flying tackle/hit to knock him out of bounds. Gonzo turned to step out AFTER Matthews left his feet. Should not have drawn a flag at all, let alone ANY fine.

gatsby26 says:Sep 13, 2013 8:12 PM

Didn’t the 49ers receive more personal fouls during the game than the Packers? Seems like if you can cut through all the B.S. and hype surrounding Matthews, it is the 49ers who are dirty. You can try to cloud the facts. However, the truth is all this venom being spewed out by Harbaugh and the 49er fans is pretty dumb. Their recent string of success will be short lived, and in the end, this current 49er era will result in zero super Bowls. Ha Ha Ha!

49er fans should prepare themselves for another meeting with the packers this season, and hope that it is at home. They didn’t stomp anybody last week. No excuses as a loss is a loss but a healthy Burnett and Hayward in that game likely would have made a difference.
—————————-
1. Who the heck is Burnett/Hayward?? (lol)

2. A Healthy Crabtree & Manningham would have made it lopsided. You got any other excuses for your loss?

3. Niners have beaten the Pack @ home. Make no mistake, these 2 teams will see each other again this year. It will end the same way too.

Go NINERS!!!

cags777 says:Sep 13, 2013 10:04 PM

He should have been fined $25,000 – with $5,000 for the cheap hit on Kaep and $20,000 for slapping and punching an opposing player after the play. But whatever, it is what it is. Time to move on. I only hope Packers fans and players don’t whine if Matthews is taken out.

Matthews launched himself out-of-bounds. It doesn’t matter where the QB was when he began his launch. The only possible place he could have hit him was out-of-bounds.

All dirty plays are dumb. If it’s a dirty play for one player, it’s a dirty play for another. That’s all you can go by. Otherwise, guys like Suh should be given a break too, because who’s to say which of his dumb plays are dirty? You’d have to be pretty stubborn to refuse to admit that if some plays that look dirty are simply dumb, then we really can’t tell which of Suh’s dumb plays are dirty. It’s a huge slippery slope.

I’m a 49ers fan but this is ridiculous. It wasn’t that big a deal. It’s freaking football. Boone answered a direct question. I actually laughed about it because he was so frustrated that he leaped like superman and hot Jim even though he had to know it would draw a flag.

I don’t think it is so much about the hit, rather the slapping afterwards. Most players get tossed for throwing a slap and Matthews shouldn’t be any different. I actually like Matthews but dirty play is dirty play and the fine should have been north or 20k.

n2deep21 says:Sep 18, 2013 10:16 AM

He may not be a dirty player but it definitely was a dirty hit. If he’s out of bounds , why launch yourself? Not to mention he spoke of putting hits on Kap before the game. That fine was BS and everyone knows it. If it was Peyton or Brady the fine would have been ridiculous…..